Monday, November 27, 2017

Here's a fun one for tonight. I picked this record up during a recent business trip to Chicago. Even though I was there on business, my evenings were my own and I was able to hit up five Goodwill stores, one Salvation Army store, and a great record store for about five minutes called Kiss The Sky. But the only record I came home with in all that hunting was this one, and I had hoped for more. Pretty much every place I visited had a pile of records, and there were plenty of things I hadn't seen before. (I had to buy a new suitcase at the Salvation Army store and check it to get all the goodies back!) I'd never seen this record before, and thought it would make a nice share. I should have looked a little closer, then I might have been warned that it doesn't credit any artists, and that's always a red flag. When I pulled it out the other day, I thought maybe the Marion Rosette you see mentioned on the cover was going to be the artist, but once I heard choruses and male and female voices and orchestras playing, I knew that you weren't going to buy it if I credited it all to her. So I kept digging and found a single at Discogs on the same label, featuring Santa Claus Is Flying Through The Sky, and it's credited to Loren Becker. But the time shown on the label scan didn't match my rip. But the flip side, 'Twas The Night Before Christmas, did match! And it's credit to Roger White. So I went ahead and tagged that track. And I'm pretty sure it's the same voice on Hark The Herald Angels Sing and God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen. Then some more digging led me to the discography of a long-lost kiddie record label, Lincoln Records. There's the same Roger White credited to a few songs, including the ones I thought matched his voice! And there's a version of Santa Claus Is Flying Through The Sky, this time credited to Sally Sweetland, Loren Becker and Enoch Light Orchestra. I don't have a lot of evidence, but I think this is the source of the track. At least I have a man and a woman singing. Many of the other tracks here show up in that old Lincoln Records discography, but the label scans don't credit an artist, so I have no one to attribute them to. (I also noticed that the B-side songs on those old 78s, where there were two to a side, were really short on my rips, which would make sense...) That's further than I've ever gotten with some of these old no-artist kiddie records. Anybody got any more info or documentation to share? Did I loose you way back? Sorry. This is Sing For Christmas-Favorite Carols And Songs (Fairyland F113, Recordings by Corona Records, Mono, originally recorded c. 1950). At least you get a cute cover out of the deal.

1. Joy To The World
2. Santa Claus Is Flying Through The Sky
3. Good King Wenceslaus
4. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
5. My First Christmas Tree
6. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
7. Jingle Bells
8. 'Twas The Night Before Christmas
9. O Come All Ye Faithful
10. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
11. The First Noel
12. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
13. Silent Night
14. Deck The Halls

yeah, you lost me back at the suitcase. let’s see, you went to a bunch of goodwills, etc. but the only record you bought was this one. and then, magically, you had so many that you had to buy a new suitcase at the salvation army to put them in. (they sell new suitcases at the salvation army stores out in chicagy? the ones i’ve been to only sell things that sat in someone’s attic for 30 years or more. and you wouldn’t want to put your clean clothes in them. i guess for transporting records it’s ok. but then, i hope you did buy a bunch. otherwise, marion might have had a lonely and bumpy trip.)

i rather like marion rosette’s original songs. usually, most of these obscure, one-and-done christmas tunes are awful. but i could hum along to “my first christmas tree” and “santa clause is flying through the sky”. oddly, i kept envisioning the trip back from chicago and found myself singing “ernie’s suitcase is flying through the sky”. but other than that, pretty good.

Got Vinyl?

Ernie's Christmas record want list. There might be something in that stack of Christmas records you want to throw out that I need. Actually, there's a lot more that I need that I don't know about, so send 'em all to me (especially singles)! (Revised 03 March 2018)